Terry Chair of Religious Education inaugurated and installed

FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS)-The faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary wore full regalia in honor of the inauguration and installation of the Jack D. and Barbara Terry Chair of Religious Education during chapel, Sept. 11.

Jack D. Terry, Jr., vice president emeritus and special assistant to the president for development at Southwestern Seminary, preached during the chapel service in conjunction with the ceremony. Wesley Black, associate dean for research doctoral studies and professor of student ministry at Southwestern Seminary, was installed into the chair. “We have got to get back to equipping the saints, empowering them for ministry, and enjoying the building of the body of Christ,” Terry said in his chapel message. Terry considered this the “primitive formula for church growth,” taken from Ephesians 4:11-12.

Terry’s ministry spans 39 years at Southwestern, where he has held the positions of professor and dean in the School of Educational Ministries and vice president of Institutional Advancement. Terry received his doctorate from Southwestern Seminary and completed post-doctoral studies at North Texas State University and the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He has been recognized with Outstanding and Distinguished Alumnus awards from both East Texas Baptist (1974) and Southwestern Seminary (1999).

Before joining Southwestern, Terry was professor of Bible and religious education at Hardin Simmons University and served on staff at several Southern Baptist churches as minister of education and minister of music. He also has served as interim pastor for churches in Texas as well as Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Now retired, he is busier than ever, chairing Southwestern’s Centennial Committee, directing the Southwestern Advisory Council and leading Bible studies in local churches. Terry and his wife, Barbara, were married in 1955. Barbara Terry has been an active volunteer in church and seminary ministries and served as president of the Seminary Women’s Club. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Carliss Phillips, a long-time supporter of the seminary, endowed the Terry Chair through his estate in 2005. An active member in his church and respected businessman, Phillips was a member of the Southwestern Advisory Council and received the B.H. Carroll Award in 1990. Phillips previously established multiple funds at the Seminary for various areas including Women's Programs, the College at Southwestern, scholarships for the main campus and the campus at San Antonio.

“In finding someone to occupy the chair we had to find someone who has the same infectious, joyous personality as Jack Terry, which is difficult,” said Craig Blaising, executive vice president and provost of Southwestern Seminary. Of all the professors in the School of Educational Ministries, the one who best fits that description “would have to be Dr. Wes Black,” Blaising said.

Black joined the faculty of Southwestern Seminary in 1983. He received his Ph.D. from Southwestern in 1985 along with the Albert G. Marsh Award as the outstanding doctoral student in religious education. Prior to joining the faculty, Black served as a youth consultant for the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (now LifeWay Christian Resources) from 1981-1983. Additionally, he spent 15 years serving as minister of youth to churches in Texas and Oklahoma.

Black has been active in the Association of Youth Ministry, from which he received an Award of Excellence in 1998, and served as chairman of the board of that organization in 2003. He has written several works, including “Parenting by Grace” and “Discipleship in the Home” and has been a contributing author on many other Christian education works.

Recordings of Southwestern’s chapel services may be viewed, listened to or downloaded through the seminary’s Web site, www.swbts.edu.

About Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Southwestern Seminary celebrates its centennial in 2008. Since its founding, the seminary has trained and sent out over 40,000 graduates to serve in local churches and mission fields around the world. In 1908, B.H. Carroll established the seminary on the campus of Baylor University. It was moved to its current location on Seminary Hill in Fort Worth in 1910 and was placed under the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925. Paige Patterson was elected as the eighth president of the seminary in 2003.